Water Grading

Water Seekers are famed for their ability to shape water, but valued for their more practical skills. Water grading is one of these less flashy but more essential services that the Eddy offers.

The best-known example is the 1978 Vol expedition into the North Gap which hired the Eddy's Dancinglight to assess the water quality on any islands they found.

Dancinglight has finished examining local waters. Report summary as follows:

Warm water springs--high in mineral content, possibly useful for evaporation mining, but likely not worth the effort. Some sub-visible life. No threat to health, but better for bathing than drinking.

River--also contains life, should be boiled before use. Fish safe to consume.

Bay--somewhat salty, less so near mouth of river.

Rain--clean, best option for drinking water.

— Grand Adventure first logbook

Source

Water grading is a specific application of aura resonance. Impurities in water affect how auras interact with it. Almost anyone can tell the difference between safe and unsafe water, but it takes the enhanced sensitivity of a Water Seeker to be able to identify contaminants and their concentrations.

Discovery

The modern techniques for water grading were developed within the past few decades, checking their findings against the results of chemical testing. (The old Seekers' of course has their own methods, but all their knowledge was lost when an eruption destroyed the old Eddy.)

More generally, water grading could easily be one of the first water skills ever learned. Clean water is so important for survival, it's no wonder so many animals have developed active aura response.

Gestures & Ritual

Water Seekers each have their own preferred process for evaluating water. Some prefer close contact and grade by dipping their hands into the water. Some pour it from one container to another to sense how it moves.

Range

Water Grading is range-irrelevant. Any Water Seeker can learn the skill.

Eihlarians have an unusually high incidence of dormant aura, meaning most of us can't sense anything about water. But many families have two or three members who can, and in the blood-feud days they were employed to detect poisons.

Scribe Elan